Many systems exist today to produce mixed mine fields. The term mixed refers to the inclusion of both Antitank (AT) and Antipersonnel (AP) mines in the systems. The primary purpose of those systems is to destroy tanks and other armored vehicle in a mechanized force. The AT mines provide this capability. Because the minefield is deadly to vehicles that attempt to move through it, a force encountering a minefield is often delayed as it attempts to breach the minefield or to find its boundaries. If possible the force will attempt to go around the minefield, thus the element employing the mines can influence the maneuver options of their opponents. Again the AT mines are the component that give the minefield its delay and deterrent effects.
AP mines protect the AT mines by killing or deterring the threat of dismounted soldiers, thereby preventing them from creating a breach through the minefield by destroying or removing the AT mines. Early mine systems, often referred to as conventional mines, were buried mines that were placed in precise patterns, whose locations were recorded to facilitate removal after the war. The U.S. still employs conventional mines in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. Buried mines are difficult to detect, and thus are inherently difficult to breach. Most conventional mines have simple pressure fuses and contain no electronics.
Due to the extensive time and logistical effort involved with conventional mines, the U.S. developed its family of scatterable mines in the 1970's and 1980's. Scatterable mines are dispersed in random patterns on the surface. Advances in kill mechanisms and electronic fuses allow scatterable mines to achieve a high degree of lethality with a mine that is much smaller than a conventional mine. Because the scatterable mine is exposed on the surface it is easy for a dismounted, i.e., walking, soldier to detect nearby mines. All U.S. mixed mine systems are composed of scatterable AT and AP mines.
The precise location of mines in a scatterable minefield cannot be determined and recorded for future removal. Thus, the scatterable mines are designed to destroy themselves (self-destruct) after a predetermined short time period. The existing mixed mine systems are a very effective complement to other weapons systems in both offensive and defensive combat.
As long as the AP systems are present, the AT mines scattered on the surface of the ground are difficult to breach. In the absence of the AP mines, dismounted soldiers may easily breach surface laid (scattered) AT mines. For example, the soldiers can move quickly through the AT only minefield placing a small explosive charge on or near each AT mine. The deficiency this invention overcomes is caused by a desire to eliminate all AP mines without reducing the effectiveness of the mixed minefield.
The large number of civilian casualties caused by AP mines long after conflicts have ended (estimated by the United Nations at 10,000 annually) led to a worldwide movement to eliminate AP mines, which resulted in the Ottawa Convention. The Ottawa treaty was signed in 1997. Nations that ratify this treaty agree to prohibit the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of AP landmines and to destroy all AP mines in their possession.
The United States has maintained that U.S. AP mines were not the cause of the civilian casualties since the AP mines in U.S. mixed mine systems self-destructed during or shortly after the battle and thus could not cause civilian casualties after the war. The U.S. considered the combat capability provided by its mixed mine systems to be essential to reducing U.S. casualties in the event of a conflict. The U.S. however wanted to be able to be compliant with the Ottawa treaty. The dilemma is how to preserve the effectiveness of mixed systems while eliminating the AP mine.
Since 1997, the U.S. has been unsuccessful in finding or developing an alternative to mixed mine systems. This in itself validates the lack of any existing invention that performs the functions of the MMA system. The U.S. Department of Defense published a Broad Agency Announcement on Feb. 2, 2000, seeking alternatives to mixed mines.
U.S. forces currently have four mixed mine systems that share similar technology for both AT and AP mines. Collectively they are referred to as SCATMINES. Those systems are the Gator Mine system, which is emplaced by high speed Air Force or Navy aircraft; RADAM mines, which are emplaced by 155 mm artillery; Volcano mines, which are emplaced by helicopter or ground vehicle mounted volcano delivery systems; and MOPMS, which is a small footlocker sized container that on command launches a mix of AT and AP mines to form a small minefield near the launcher.
All of the SCATMINES have self-destruct times of 4 hours to 15 days dependent on the system and the settings on the mine at launch. The MOPMS is capable of receiving a signal to recycle its self-destruct time, thereby extending its life. The U.S. Army has articulated a need to be able to remotely turn mines off and on, and to destroy them with a remote command. Those capabilities do not exist in existing mine systems.